By Laura Bernheim
Despite Floridians’ relatively unfavorable opinions of undocumented immigrants, most residents believe these immigrants should be allowed a path to earn U.S. citizenship, according to recent research by the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education.
PIE Center researchers presented three hypothetical government actions in an online survey earlier this year. Eighty-five percent of respondents agreed with some form of access to citizenship, whether through being allowed to remain in the U.S. or being forced to leave temporarily.
The remaining 15 percent of respondents felt undocumented immigrants should be required to leave the country and not be allowed to return, according to PIE Center Director Tracy Irani. The survey defined undocumented immigrants as “foreign nationals residing in the U.S. without legal immigration status…resulting from someone entering the country without permission or remaining in the U.S. after a legal visa expires.”
“I thought it was interesting that despite some less favorable perceptions that people hold about undocumented immigrants in this study, there’s still a large majority that felt that there should be some way for undocumented immigrants to become legal residents in this country,” she said.
Of the 507 respondents to the PIE Center’s online survey, 70 percent indicated that they have little to no confidence in national political leaders to make decisions that reflect respondents’ values — even though the current federal immigration reform bill includes methods through which undocumented immigrants can gain citizenship.
“The issue is that there has been a lot of polarization politically on a lot of these contentious issues, which makes it difficult to come to a compromise,” Irani said. “Right now, there are senators from all over the political spectrum who have banded together to work on this issue. People want political leaders to work together, but at the same time, those political leaders represent these divergent viewpoints that we all hold.”
Researchers to the online survey matched 2010 census data in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age and education levels, with the intention of providing an overall understanding of the attitudes Florida residents have on undocumented immigration.
When asked in a separate question whether undocumented immigrants should be forced to return to their home countries, 49 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, while 24 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed, and 28 percent were undecided.
Last year, the U.S. deported about 410,000 undocumented immigrants. About 55 percent of those people had been convicted of crimes such as drug offenses or driving under the influence, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The PIE Center will conduct four public opinion trend surveys each year that focus on key issues in Florida, such as water quantity and quality, immigration, endangered species and food production. The surveys will repeat annually to track changes in public opinion over time.
